Reconciliation
by Pure-Hazard
Summary: He's just as broken as she is. But he wants more. She doesn't know how. Rated T. Brief M scenes. Depression. Possible triggers. Drabble. Slow Burn. {Disclaimer: I do not own Virals. All rights are reserved to Kathy Reichs and Brendan Reichs. No infringement or copyright intended}
1. Chapter 1

_ONE_

It's hard for her to admit what went wrong with them.

Mainly because she has no idea.

She has no fucking clue what happened to them and she thinks about it all the time.

She wonders when they really stopped caring.

She wonders when they really stopped talking.

She wonders what happened to _her._

She used to be fine. After her mother's death and having to live with the father she'd never met, she'd been fine. She cried sometimes, as it was only natural, but then it was normal.

Now silent tears run down her cheeks in the classroom and sobs break her lips for no understood reason.

Because she's broken. She's lost. She cares and couldn't care less at the same time.

She feels so _fucking_ crushed.

She sits in the Bunker, the boys spread out around her, Cooper snoring in his bed. She watches them, sees and studies Hiram's classic dirty comments and his jokes. When he looks to her for her reaction, she allows her lips to quirk upwards.

He accepts it.

He has no idea.

Shelton's still quiet and stays on the computer, practicing his skills on Codecademy, hacking the security system of Claybourne Manor when he feels like it. It's normal to him, normal to everyone and he's never been overly close to her.

He's the easiest one to deceive. She doesn't like it, not really.

But it's better for everyone.

Better for her.

Ben.

The one she liked,

the one she maybe even loved.

Who even knows anymore?

He looks at her across the room and she stares back.

Nothing.

Not for months.

Not anymore.

So they pretend.

It's hard,

yet it's easy.

What went wrong?

 _Everything._


	2. Chapter 2

_TWO_

They figured out a few months after they found Tory in the water,  
Ben and Tory.

Everyone was happy. Euphoric.

They shared their real first kiss on the beach, the stars gleaming in approval above their heads.

They loved it.

They loved them.

Everyone did.

But then everything changed.

They knew it was coming.

But you can never be prepared,

no matter how hard you try.

She died.

For Tory it was like losing a second mother.

For Ben it was his real mother.

Dead.

Gone.

Passed.

She should have gotten help.

Given up the drugs, the cigarettes, the men.

But she didn't.

Ben can deal. He cuts. It's not good, but at least he deals.

Tory doesn't last long without her.

She starts to fade away.

Ben tries, _God_ he tries.

But it's too hard.

It's too _much._

He loses her.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys, thanks so much for the views, the three follows and the one review. I'm not letting this one die.

Enjoy.

* * *

 _THREE_

Ben misses her.

Those next few weeks are hell for him and he loses all touch with reality.

Nothing feels real to him anymore and it doesn't scare him. He doesn't lose sleep over it.

If anything, it fascinates him, how you can feel physical pain and the warmth of being curled in your sheets at night… but don't feel like you really exist.

It's a strange feeling, but it doesn't bother him, not in the least.

It only makes things easier for him, lifewise.

Schools comes and goes, homework's given and assignments are handed out and he knows they're important, but he doesn't feel any need to them and when the teachers confront him, he just takes it.

It doesn't feel like it's really happening, at least not to him, so why does it matter?

It just doesn't.

He gets sent to Headspace to talk. The guidance counsellor recommends it to Tom, so he just goes along with it.

First, Tanya can't make her mind up.

She says he's suffering, like no one knew that already,

she says he's depressed,

then he's got a mild bipolar disorder,

then she evaluates his reactions to her carefully spoken words regarding everything and everyone he knows and she decides.

But it's not a medical term,

there's no proper evaluation for it.

His soul is cracked and ruined and he's just _gone._

It's nothing he didn't already know.


End file.
